The Gate

Not a great picture, but towards the middle you will see a gate that was really fun to make and carve away at. The coolest part is that it is hung on the post with a couple pieces of rubber tie down strapping and some screws. Spring gate and all.

Backyard Fun

The 2006 backyard when we arrived














In the meantime, we grew potatoes and did a few other short-term projects.















Last weekend, we got the itch to do something.
The first paver patio looked awful, so I went at it again. Much better.















Amanda had a lot of the direction behind the fence. We were a few pine poles short, so we had to venture into the woods not too far and find a couple more.















We had this awful red rock everywhere out front that was hard to make disappear. I put the paver patio down without the thought of what to fill the holes with. Then it occurred to me that the red rock would tie in well with the brick house. So, there you have it.

Terrace Park

These are basically two walls I created with the goal of making them tie into the ground and carry a smooth shape into the rest of the yard. The stones are really broken pieces of sidewalk concrete.

Little Bench

This was another product of a fallen red oak. This bench was # 2 with the saw and so I learned a few things about keeping it a little more straight. Still need to attached the pieces somehow.

This is next to our driveway going down to the church. We needed a railing and I kind of wanted more of a entrance to and from being at the office/church. I picked up a lot of the tree trunks in Jan one winter before the snow came and let them dry for a few months. Haven't quite figured out how to finish the poles going down the steps.

Oak Bench

When we moved up to Michigan, there was a paver patio of the 70's that was being contorted by some tree stumps. I pulled most of them up and 1.5 years later, I am still finding multiple uses for the pavers. The bench came from an oak in the back that split half-way up last summer. I was somewhat wise and cut the sides while what you see was still attached to the roots. It's now a little contorted, but I don't suspect many thieves coming to carry this one away

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